Isabelle Moves In
by lnvaderZlM
Summary: After a freak accident, Isabelle ruins her and her brother's house. Now, the twins must move into the village, earning bells to pay off their debt to Nook's Homes and rebuild their house.
1. Surprise!

"All right, then! I'll fill out the paperwork by tomorrow!" Isabelle told the mayor as he walked out. She waited until he was a decent distance away before letting out an excited squeal. "And with that, I am officially done for the day! Which means..." Isabelle reached under the desk and pulled out a party hat. It was December 20th - her birthday. Quickly, she packed her things, threw on her coat, and hurried out of the stuffy office.

"Happy birthday, Miss Secretary!"

"Hey, happy birthday, Isabelle!"

"HI! HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAY!"

As she skipped towards Main Street to pick up her brother, several villagers wished her a happy birthday. She smiled and thanked them, getting all the more excited each time someone reminded her what day it was. Finally, she arrived at Main Street. Her brother was also getting ready to head home.

"Hey, sis!" he greeted his twin. "You look happy. What happened?"

"W-What?! Don't tell me you forgot..." Isabelle said, a look of shock on her face. '_How could he forget? It's _his _birthday, too...'_ she thought.

"What? Oh, that's right!" Digby looked like he remembered something; Isabelle grew hopeful. "Today's Saturday! Happy Saturday!"

Isabelle was dumbfounded - her own _twin _brother forgot their birthday?

"I'm just kidding, I know what day it is!" he said, patting his sister on the head. "Happy birthday, sis."

The yellow dog wagged her fluffy white tail and drew her brother in for a big hug. "Happy birthday, bro!"

"Too..tight..." he coughed.

"Deal with it. That's what you get for playing such a dirty trick on me!" Isabelle said, squeezing him tighter. It didn't seem like she was planning on letting go anytime soon... Digby could feel his spine about to give.

"W-We should get going...I'll...I'll...!" Digby wracked his brain, thinking up something Isabelle would want more than breaking his back. An idea popped into his head. "Don't you want your present?" he asked.

He gave her a custom-made shirt every year for her birthday, and she always looked forward to it. Since he keeps the presents at home, she would have to let go of him so they could get there.

It worked - Isabelle instantly let go and skipped ahead, towards their house. "Well, what are we waiting for?!" she squealed. "Let's go, bro!"

Digby gasped for air. "Whew...close one."

* * *

Isabelle and Digby lived up on the bluff with the other animals that had actual jobs. It was still a part of the town, but disconnected from the non-working villagers. The new mayor was supposed to live there, as well, but he said that he'd prefer living among the townsfolk. Plus, the job of mayor doesn't pay much at all - in fact, he didn't get paid at all! So he needed to live somewhere with a good ecology of sellable fish and bugs. The bluff had neither, being much more developed and modern than the village area.

Upon reaching their house, Isabelle opened the door, and...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAY!" cried the group that awaited inside. Isabelle jumped back in shock. Even though her brother set this up every year, it never failed to surprise her. A smile broke out on her face, and she ran to hug each of her guests. All of her neighbors were there - Tom Nook and his twin sons, Pelly and her sister Phyllis, Pete, Blathers and his sister Celeste, Brewster, Kicks, Katrina, the Able sisters, Dr. Shrunk, and Gracie! They all closed up early to celebrate their birthday.

"Yo, is this the birthday girl?" a smooth, melodic voice asked. Isabelle felt shivers up her spine.

"Digby, you didn't!" Isabelle said, her voice high-pitched from excitement. She turned around, and sure enough, there was K.K. Slider! Digby smiled.

"I've got a song that'll make your heart twirl. So take a seat, and I'll drop a beat, that'll fly you to the moon, June." K.K. got up on the stage prepared for him, strummed his guitar a few times, then started his special song that he saved for birthdays: K.K. Birthday.

Isabelle was always too busy with work to be able to enjoy K.K.'s performances at Club LOL. But this time...her brother brought the show to them! She suddenly felt like the luckiest little puppy in the world, having such an awesome brother in Digby. She felt bad that the best she could do for him on their birthday was make him a special lunch.

As K.K. played his music, some of the guests tried being romantic with each other. Tom Nook approached Sable, a gleaming look in his eyes. Sable nodded, and joined him for a quick dance between friends. Pete approached the two mail clerk sisters, flower in hand - Pelly looked hopeful while Phyllis looked disgusted. He offered his flower to Phyllis. As usual, he gets rejected, then walks off, depressed, before Pelly can work up the nerve to ask him out. Even Kicks solicited a dance from Mabel.

Craving romance herself, Isabelle scanned the room for a certain someone, intending to ask for a dance. To her disappointment, the mayor hadn't shown up... Not that that surprised her - her house was a thirty minute uphill walk away from the village. For that reason, very few of the villagers ever visited her.

As the song ended, K.K. walked up to Isabelle and handed her a music box containing the song he had just played.

"I don't usually do this, but people tell me you're one hot sis," he explained. "Always workin' your tail off for the town. Turn that frown upside down, because today's your day, so say hey!"

With that, he left. The other guests left soon after, wishing her a happy birthday again as they walked out the door. Soon, the twins were alone.

"So, you ready for your present?" Digby asked.

Isabelle excitedly hopped up and down. "You bet! Gimme gimme gimme!" she squealed, tail wagging in anticipation.

"Okay, but promise me you won't make a mess with the wrapping paper..."

"I promise, I promise!"

"Okay, here you go!" He revealed the gift he was hiding behind his back. Isabelle ignored his request and shredded the wrappings, prompting a sigh from her brother. Inside the box was...

An amazingly cute winter coat! Isabelle cried out in excitement and delight.

"I love it! Can I put it on right now?!" she asked, hugging it tightly.

"You know the rules - I have to wash it first, remember?" Digby always says to wash clothes before using them._ 'What if someone dirty tried it on at the store?'_ he would reason.

"Well, can you wash it tonight so I can wear it tomorrow?"

"Sorry, sis, but I'm a little tired from all the party planning I had to do today. I'll wash it tomorrow, okay?" Digby went to his room and closed the door.

"Aww, but I wanted to wear it to the _Town Hall Renovation _completion ceremony tomorrow..." Isabelle said to herself. That had been the mayor's birthday present to her - he caught her doodling what she wished the Town Hall looked like, so he took it upon himself to pay for the necessary services and materials to make it happen. "Looks like I'll just have to wear something else. Unless..."

Digby peeked out of his room, as if reading her sister's mind. "By the way, _don't _try to wash it yourself. You remember what happened last time you tried to do housework, right?"

"Don't worry, bro, I won't!" Isabelle said, retreating to her room. Digby, satisfied with her response, went to sleep for the night.

Isabelle waited twenty minutes to ensure her brother was asleep, then tiptoed over to the basement, where the laundry machines were, carrying her new outfit.

_Silly Digby...I'm a big girl - I can handle doing laundry! _she thought to herself. Unfortunately, when she actually saw the washing machine, she had no idea what to do. _Uhmmm..._ she struggled to figure out how to start it.

"Oh!" a light bulb went on in her head. "First I need to put my outfit in...then I add some of that soap thingy..." Isabelle put her clothes in the washer, grabbed the bottle of detergent, but then ran into another problem. "...How much do I pour in?" She's seen Digby do this a few times before - he would just tilt the bottle 90 degrees for a few seconds. Isabelle did just that. Unfortunately, this was a full bottle, so tilting it 90 degrees for a few seconds practically emptied the whole thing! Isabelle, not realizing that she put too much, turned the washing machine on. "And now I wait!" she said, putting on headphones and listening to music on her phone.

* * *

Digby had only been asleep for about a half hour before being woken up by screams coming from the laundry room. He groaned, already knowing what had happened. Yawning, he got up to see how big a mess his sister had made this time.

"Sis, didn't I tell you not to-OH MY GOODNESS!" Digby said. As he entered the laundry room, he was greeted by a massively overflowing washing machine and a panicked Isabelle. The basement was filling up with bubbly water _fast_ - soon, it reached his knees; then, his waist. The washer broke down, obviously from having _way _too much detergent put in, causing water to flow freely out of it. There were a lot of active electronics in the room, too. Digby was no electrician, but he knew not to take chances with water and electricity.

"D-Digby!" Isabelle said fearfully.

"C'mon, sis, we gotta get outta here!" he yelled, grabbing Isabelle's hand and running out of the house.

They ran out to the sidewalk, just outside their plot. Looking back, they saw the water bursting through every window of their one story building. Digby gave his sister a stern look.

"Isabelle, didn't I tell you not to try to do the laundry yourself?" he asked.

"Yes...?" she responded meekly.

"And what did you just do?"

"Try to do the laundry myself..."

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"..." Tears formed at the corners of the yellow dog's eyes. "I...I'm sorry!" she said, letting the tears pour out.

"Aww..." Digby groaned. Her puppy dog tears worked every time. He hugged the poor girl and patted her on the back. "It's okay, sis. I could never stay mad at you..."

"How touching." A third voice joined the conversation - Tom Nook! "Laundry accident, hmm? A classic!" he laughed.

"Nook!" Digby said, surprised. He got straight to business - "How much will the repairs cost?"

"Ho ho! Just a little water damage shouldn't cost much at all. Probably just about a thousand bells or so."

Digby sighed a sigh of relief. Isabelle's last screw up cost fifty thousand bells. She was learning how to make chocolates for the mayor, intending to give them to him as a Valentine's Day gift, but ended up setting the whole house on fire. As he chuckled a bit at the memory, the house suddenly burst into flames.

"What the-?!" he shouted. "How?!"

"Ehehe...I forgot, I was hungry, so I started cooking something aaaaand..." Isabelle said sheepishly.

"That's gonna raise the price up to about 51,000 bells," Nook said.

"Well, still manageable..." Digby sighed.

But then...

_**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!**_

The house exploded, leaving the two twins in utter shock. Nook kept up his usual poker face.

"Gas heaters, I presume?" Nook said, nodding in understanding.

Digby slapped his forehead. He had one installed this winter because he had heard it was cheaper and more energy efficient than other heaters. The fire must have ignited the natural gas being used as fuel, causing an explosion.

"So...how much is this gonna cost us now?" Digby asked, dread sweeping over him in anticipation of the obscene number he was about to hear. The whole house was blown to pieces.

"Well, let's see...this house had four fully upgraded rooms, a fully upgraded basement, and then there's the cost of cleaning up the mess..." Nook said, crunching the numbers in his head. "It's too complicated right now, but I'd estimate the cost to be around twenty million bells."

Digby's heart sank. "T-T-T-Twenty million bells?!" he stammered. He and Isabelle only had about a hundred thousand between them in savings!

"Not only that, but it will take quite some time to clean up, yes?" Nook continued. "Probably about a two or three months to clear out the debris, restore the lawn, fix the plumbing, etc."

"But...where will we stay?"

"Hmm..." Tom Nook scratched his chin. "Ah! Why not move into the village for a while? I can have a house up by tomorrow for you two!"

"The village...?"

"Yes! And there are lots of bugs and fish to catch and sell there. Much faster money than awaiting paychecks from the Happy Home Showcase, hm?"

"Well, I suppose-wait, how much extra will this cost us?"

"Not much at all! And, since it's your birthday, and because you two have worked so hard for our fair town for many years, I'll cut you a special deal - one million bells, no interest, no down payment, for a fully upgraded main room and two bedrooms."

Digby was about to accept his kind offer, but Isabelle stopped him.

"Wait," Isabelle chimed in. "Why don't we just move to the village permanently? Wouldn't that save us a lot of money?"

"I suppose that would work, though you'd still have to pay for the clean up." Nook crunched more numbers in his head. "Since you're planning on moving permanently, I'd assume you'll want to upgrade your two side rooms, and add a basement, hm? In that case, I'd estimate the price to be around twelve million bells - seven million for the cleanup, and five million for the house."

That shaved eight million off the initial price. "We accept." Digby shook Tom Nook's hand, sealing the deal.

"Excellent! Your house will be ready by tomorrow. As for where you'll rest your heads for tonight..."

* * *

"Here you go - one tent, all set up for you two to sleep in." A construction beaver set up their tent right next to the mayor's house, as per Isabelle's suggestion.

Digby thanked the man. "By the way, when will our house be done?" he asked.

"We'll come around at about 6:00 A.M. to build it. Mr. Nook said that you two usually go to work at around that time, eh? Your three rooms'll be done by the time you get back."

"Three rooms? What about the basement?"

"Sorry, boss, but rules are rules - you have to pay off your debts before upgrading your house," he explained. "Nook's cutting you a special deal, giving you three rooms at first, but you'll have to earn the side room upgrades, as well as the basement."

The beaver left after saying that. Digby let out a huge sigh that had been building up.

"Aww, cheer up, bro! It's like we're on a camping trip!" Isabelle said enthusiastically, already snuggled up in her sleeping bag. "Just like we used to go on as kids!"

"Yeah...I guess that's something..." he said, snuggling up in his own sleeping bag.

"That's the spirit! G'nite, bro!"

"Good night, sis." He turned out the lights.

_**Debt paid: 0 bells  
Debt remaining: 12,000,000+ bells**_

* * *

**A/N: Wheee! I've been meaning to write an AC fanfic for a while lol. Been getting more and more obsessed with the game lately x_x. I couldn't really think of a good premise for a story. I always did wonder why we never get to see the houses of the special characters, though. My memory's a bit fuzzy, but I coulda sworn Isabelle said she and her brother "lived here [in this town]." And Isabelle's so cute, so I definitely wanted her to be a main character. Thus, this story was born!**

**Also, in case I was too vague in describing this in the story - I've split the town into three sections. There are the two familiar, in-game ones, which are the village you (the mayor) and the villagers live in, and Main Street. Then I used my 'artistic license' (lol) to add in a third area called the bluff (bluff - a steep cliff, bank, or promontory, i.e. that barrier on the east or west side of your town), which is where all the "special" characters live.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review/criticize/comment/point out any errors!**

**Also, no idea how long this story's gonna go.**


	2. Isabelle-cicle

Isabelle awoke to the sound of Bubblegum K.K. on her phone - it was her alarm. "Good morning, bro!" the young secretary said, stretching and yawning. No response. "Digby?" Isabelle went over to her brother's sleeping bag and found that it was empty. "Huh..." Suddenly, the tent flap opened.

"Oh, good morning, sis," Digby greeted her as he set a package down on the floor.

"G-Good morning, bro!" she said, a little surprised. "Where'd you go? What's in the bag?"

"You weren't planning on going to work in _that, _where you?" Digby said, pointing at her pajamas.

The twins were unable to salvage most of the things from their house, so all they had in the way of clothing were the pajamas they wore when the explosion happened. Isabelle mourned the loss of her brother's birthday present, but she at least still had the memory of the party, as well as the music box K.K. had given her.

"I went to the train station locker to withdraw some of the clothes we had in storage. Here, put this on." Digby pulled Isabelle's spring and summer attire out from the bag.

"Umm, I don't think these'll provide enough warmth..." Isabelle said, holding the light, breezy outfit in her hands.

"It'll have to do for now. The tailor shop isn't open yet. I'll put in an order for your fall and winter uniform when Sable comes in. Just...try to stay in the Town Hall for today, okay?"

"But what if there's work to do outside?"

"Tell the mayor what happened. I'm sure he'll understand."

Then, to Isabelle's surprise, Digby pulled out his regular outfit from the bag, as well.

"Hey! I thought your uniform got destroyed?" Isabelle said accusingly.

Digby shrugged. "The Happy Home Showcase heard what happened and sent me another one. Anyway, I'd better get to work. See ya, sis."

"Have a good day, bro..." Isabelle said as Digby went to his post. "Now to freshen up!" She put on her spring clothes and began heading towards the bathroom, but then remembered she was in a tent... _'Oh, well, I'm sure I look fine!' _she thought as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and tied her hair up with her signature bell ribbon.

Then, bracing herself, she opened the tent flap and scurried over to the Town Hall as quickly as her legs could take her in the freezing cold.

* * *

After getting his morning cup of coffee from The Roost, Digby headed towards Main Street to open up the showcase for the day. Just after crossing the train tracks, he heard someone calling out his name.

"Hmm?" Digby looked towards the source - it was Tom Nook, calling from inside his shop. He must have calculated the exact costs of the cleanup and their new house by now. Digby gulped in fear of what the figure would be as he walked in.

"Ah, Digby, I'm glad I caught you!" Nook greeted him. "I spent the night calculating the cost of the cleanup and the house. After consulting the cleanup crew and the construction company, the total turned out to be...a _bit _worse than I had anticipated."

Digby gulped even harder. "H-How much do I owe you?"

"For the main room, three side rooms, and a basement, the total turned out to be 6,301,800 bells. For the cleanup, the crew gave an estimated cost of 7,096,400 bells. That means your total is..." Nook flipped the page on his clipboard to look up the figure. "13,398,200 bells."

Digby's heart practically stopped for a few seconds. "What about interest?" he asked when he regained his composure.

"Ah, don't worry about that. You and your sister have done so much for this town, the least I could do was shave off the interest. Just try to pay it off within two years, hm?"

"Right...thank you." Digby sighed a sigh of relief, but then he realized something. "Wait, _**two**_** years?!**" he asked, dumbfounded. _'I only make 300,000 a year after taxes! And Isabelle makes about half that...'_ he thought.**  
**

"Yes. Will that be a problem?" Nook asked.

"Well, my and my sister's salaries aren't exactly high enough to pay that much in that short of a time frame..."

"Hmm, that could be problematic..." Nook said, scratching his chin. "Why not ask the mayor for help? He seems to be good at making money fast."

Digby thought about it. Nook was right - the mayor always seemed to have an obscene amount of bells.

"Well, I guess that's worth a shot..." he said resignedly. He would talk to Isabelle about it later; she was much closer to the mayor than he was. With that, the two men shook hands and parted ways, Digby manning the entrance to the showcase and Nook getting his shop ready for the day.

* * *

Fortunately for Isabelle, the new Town Hall that the mayor had paid for came with a decent heating system. She would be able to stay relatively warm in her breezy spring/summer outfit, assuming she stayed inside all day. That said...

"Oh, hi, Mayor!" Isabelle said as he stepped through the door.

"G'morning, Isabelle," he greeted. "How're you liking the new Town Hall?"

"I love it - it's everything I've ever wanted and more!"

"Great! So how 'bout that completion ceremony?"

"C-Completion ceremony...?" Isabelle peeked at her clothes and gulped.

"Yeah. You know, the one we do for every project?" The mayor noticed how she was wearing out-of-season clothes. "Umm, will you be all right wearing just that? We can cancel-"

"No!" Isabelle yelped, to both their surprise. "I mean, um, no, I'm fine! Let's do it!"

"Well, okay, if you're sure..."

* * *

"G-G-G-Good morning e-e-e-veryo-o-one..." Isabelle said through chattering teeth. "W-W-Wlecome to the g-g-g-grand c-c-c-completion ceremony f-f-f-ooorAH-CHOO!" she sneezed.

The crowd that had gathered around shuffled about nervously.

"S-S-Sorry ab-b-b-bout that...let's j-j-just skip to the p-p-party poppers, shall we?"

Everyone awkwardly pulled out their party poppers and awaited Isabelle's signal.

"Ready...set...P-P-Pop!" As soon as the last word came out, Isabelle let out a mighty sneeze, enough to blow her off her feet and into the snow. The audience scratched their heads at the spectacle, then slowly started clapping like they always do at the end of ceremonies, albeit extremely awkwardly and nervously. Isabelle scrambled to her feet, then quickly said "Th-This concludes our c-c-c-ceremony, bye!"

The crowd dispersed, and Isabelle fled back into the warm Town Hall.

* * *

"Um, Isabelle, are you okay?" The mayor followed her back into the building, a look of concern on his face.

"Y-Y-Yeah, I'm f-f-f-fine, thank you!" Isabelle said, teeth still chattering. The mayor wasn't convinced.

"Hey, Miss Secretary." Another voice joined the conversation - Marshal, the smug, white squirrel. "And hey there, Mayor! Say, Isabelle, it's a little cold to be wearing _that, _isn't it? I could lend you my jacket if you want... It'll keep you nice and warm!"

"Oh! Umm, no thank you! I'm fine!" Isabelle replied. "_Plus, you'e a little too small for me..." _she added quietly.

Marshal heard that last bit. "Your words wound me, m'lady!" he said, pretend-fainting.

"Heehee!" Isabelle giggled.

"It's okay, I understand. You'd rather wear the _mayor's _jacket, wouldn't you?" Marshal said suggestively, nudging the other man in the room.

"Oh, er, well, I, uh..." Isabelle stumbled over her words to Marshal's delight and the mayor's confusion.

"Hmm? Well, I have a few spares you can choose from in my house, if you want..." the mayor said, oblivious to Isabelle's feelings and Marshal's hints.

"YES!" Isabelle squealed, earning a giggle from Marshal and a look of surprise from the mayor. "Er, I mean, yeah, that'd be great, thanks!"

"Heehee! Looks like my work here is done! Good luck, _Mayor_," he said, giving the mayor a wink and a nudge before leaving. Before closing the door, Marshal spotted Diana, the snooty white deer, with her ear against the wall, probably digging up some juicy gossip. "Diana?"

"M-Marshal?!" the deer cried out, jumping up in surprise. "U-Um, nice day, huh?"

"Uh, yeah. What're you doing here?"

"I, uh, well, you see...umm..."

"...It's okay, Diana."

"Huh?"

"You obviously have a crush on me. A huge crush - so huge that you're compelled to follow me around everywhere, like a lion stalking its prey!"

"Oh, you're _prey _all right..."

The last thing Isabelle and the mayor heard before the door shut was a resounding slap, and Marshal's subsequent cry of pain.

* * *

"Well, here's my house!" the mayor said, welcoming Isabelle into his humongous house. Isabelle's mouth dropped in shock. The last time she had seen his house, it was still a tent! And now...it was a multi-room mansion. The main room alone dwarfed the houses of the other villagers.

Not only that, but each room looked filled with valuable stuff... The main room, which they were in right now, was filled with mugshots of several villagers, current and old. She picked one up - _Nan's _picture. Isabelle barely remembered that goat - she moved away ages ago! On the back, the long lost villager wrote a note for the mayor, listing her birthday, star sign, and favorite saying. She picked up a few more, each with the same information listed on the back.

The three surrounding rooms were just as gaudy. From the little Isabelle could see from the doorways, each room was filled with expensive furniture from Gracie's fancy store, among other things, including a few foreign items she's never seen!

"Isabelle? You coming up?" the mayor called from upstairs.

"C-Coming, Mayor!" Isabelle replied. She must have been too absorbed in all of his stuff to hear him telling her to go to the attic. As she ascended the stairs, she was greeted by an assortment of coat-wearing mannequins.

"Take your pick!" the mayor said, taking a seat on his bed - the attic seemed to be his bedroom. As for the outfits he had laid out...

...his fashion sense left something to be desired. The clothes were all beautiful - he basically had Gracie's entire roundup, plus a choice selection of clothes from the Able sisters' store. It was the way he combined them that was really disastrous. He basically just mix-and-matched shirts and pants on those poor mannequins! One wore a _blue ringmaster coat_ with a _white-lace skirt_; another wore a _brown bar shirt _with _green warm-up pants_. Isabelle toyed with the idea of picking out clothes from different mannequins, but decided against it. She didn't want to hurt the mayor's feelings. And besides, beggars can't be choosers.

"Oooh!" she gushed, inspecting a mannequin wearing a _prep school uniform, black stockings, _and _shearling boots. _It actually looked pretty cute for something randomly thrown together.

"May I?" she asked. The mayor nodded, and she changed into the outfit the mannequin was wearing. "Well...how do I look?" she asked shyly.

"You look great!" he said, giving a thumbs up. "Though in all honesty, you look great in anything you wear, Isabelle!"

The yellow dog practically fainted from that compliment. "Heehee! Heh heh, heh..." she giggled.

"Um, Isabelle, you okay?"

"Huh?" Isabelle jumped up, realizing she actually _did _faint for a second there. "U-Um, yeah. Well, I'd better get back to the Town Hall. I-It's okay if you decide not to head back there yourself, Mayor! See ya!" she said, flying out of his house. She leaned on his front door for a moment, heart still pounding, and a goofy smile on her face.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN FRONT OF THE MAYOR'S HOUSE?!" someone yelled into Isabelle's ear, snapping her back to reality. She turned to her right and saw Rosie, the peppy blue cat.

"Oh! I, u-um..." she struggled to think of an excuse.

"And why are you stuttering?! And why are you sweating when it's so cold outside?! AND WHY ARE YOU PANICKING AS THOUGH SOMEONE WERE SCREAMING THEIR LUNGS OUT AT YOU?!"

"A-Ahh..."

"Hold up - Isabelle? Is that you?"

The poor yellow puppy was scared out of her wits. It took all her strength just to nod.

"Girl, why didn't you just say so!" Rosie laughed, giving her a huge slap on the back. "What're you doing outside the mayor's house?" Rosie then noticed her new outfit. "Oooh! And where'd you get that ubercute outfit?"

"Well, you see..." Isabelle filled Rosie in on the story - except, instead of telling her she blew up their old house, she said that she and Digby were just moving in for "a change in scenery." Rosie seemed to buy it.

"So the mayor lent you that outfit?" Rosie said as Diana walked by. Isabelle nodded, and Diana's face lit up in shock.

"No way! The mayor and Isabelle? An office romance?" the snooty deer said. "I can't _wait _to tell Fauna this!" Before Isabelle could stop her, Diana started rushing off to Fauna's house. The two were neighbors and of the same species - Diana loved gossiping with her.

"Ooh, yeah, I bet Chrissy will want to hear this, too!" Rosie said, taking off at full speed. "See ya, Miss Secretary!"

"Hey, Isabelle!" Bam, the jock deer, huffed, jogging past the mayor's house. "Grats on the engagement, ladybro!"

"Wh-What?" Isabelle asked, eyes reverting to dots.

"Diana told me all about it! Look out for me at the wedding - I'll be the buffest deer there!" he called out before disappearing down the road.

Then, Isabelle felt someone staring daggers into her from behind. She turned around and sure enough, there was Stitches, the lazy teddy bear. He was staring fiercely into her, deep in thought about something.

"How many...?" he asked.

"Um, excuse me?"

"Don't play dumb! Rosie told me you and the mayor were living together! How many babies have you had so far?!"

"A-Ah! Uh..."

"And how are babies made, anyway?" Stitches said, putting his hand up to his chin to think. "Do we just pop out of nowhere? Hmm. Do you know, Isabelle?"

But the young secretary had already ran home as quickly as her legs could take her, slamming the door shut behind her.

* * *

Digby arrived at his new house at around 8:00 that evening. To his surprise, he saw Isabelle's shoes at the door - usually, she stayed late at the Town Hall.

"Isabelle? You okay in there?" he said, knocking on his sister's room. He heard whispering coming from inside - a kidnapper?! He didn't waste another second thinking. He kicked the door open and jumped in, prepared for the worst. "Isabelle? Isabelle!" he called out. To his relief, his sister was just mumbling to herself on her bed again. She did that sometimes, usually something about what the mayor did that day.

"Heeheehee...me and the mayor...getting _married_..." she giggled to herself.

Digby smiled. But then, what she just said registered in his brain.

"Wait, _what?!"_ he said, shaking Isabelle from her delusions.

"Oh, hey, bro. Look what the mayor gave me! Isn't this outfit _cute?_" she said.

"Yeah, yeah. Now what's this about you and the mayor getting married?"

"Oh, I went inside the mayor's house to pick out a winter outfit. A couple of villagers saw me coming out and thought we were _married! _Heehee!" Isabelle burst into another fit of giggles. Digby sighed, partly in relief that his sister wasn't getting married at such a young age, and partly in exasperation at his sister's silliness.

"Anyway, I talked to Nook about our loan..." he started. Isabelle snapped to attention.

"How bad is it?"

"13,398,200 bells," Digby frowned. "To be paid within two years..."

"_Two years?!_" Isabelle asked, shocked. She calculated how much she and Digby would make in that time frame from their jobs, and concluded that they wouldn't even be a tenth of the way there.

Her brother nodded. "Nook suggested we ask the mayor for tips on how to make money. Think you could do that next time you see him?"

"Sure thing."

"All right. Good night, sis." Digby turned off the lights and headed back to his room.

"Good night, bro."

_**Today's summary  
**__**Debt paid: 0 bells  
**__**Debt paid (overall): 0 bells  
Debt remaining: 13,398,200 bells**_


	3. Stingy

"_Siiiigh..._" Isabelle let out a deep breath. She had been standing at her desk for hours, waiting for the mayor to walk in. By three o'clock, it was obvious he wouldn't be coming in at all that day... The mayor had a tendency to not show up at the Town Hall for several days out of the month. Then again, all he ever did was plot where to build public works projects and which ordinances to sign into law, so there wasn't much reason to come to work _every _day.

The young secretary looked up at the door. Surely the mayor wouldn't mind if she left her post, right? Chances are he won't even notice! Isabelle could ask one of the other residents for help. None of them had jobs as far as she knew, yet they still earn money somehow for taxes and furniture. Taking one more look at the empty mayor's seat, Isabelle made up her mind and left the building, leaving a note for the mayor in case he happened to step in.

_Taking the day off!  
-Isabelle_

* * *

Isabelle had only been wandering outside for a few minutes before running into another villager - Lolly, the normal cat. Given her relatively ordinary personality, Lolly seemed like a great place to start. A jock or lazy villager would probably tell her to go enter a pie eating contest or something...

"Oh! Hiya Isabelle. What do you need?" Lolly asked politely.

"Hi Lolly! Sooo I'm having a bit of financial trouble, and my job isn't paying enough for me to overcome it..." Isabelle started. "I figured I'd try to make some money on the side. So I was wondering...how do you make bells?"

"How do I make bells?" Lolly repeated the question. She paused for a moment to think. "Hmm. Well, usually I just catch bugs and fish and sell them to Re-Tail."

"Catching bugs and fish...?"

"Yeah! Though since it's winter, there aren't many bugs around, so you'll probably want to stick to fishing." Lolly thought for a moment. "Y'know, I was actually planning on taking a fishing trip tomorrow with a few friends. Why don't you join us?"

The sound of bells filled the air as Isabelle nodded emphatically. "Yes, that sounds great!"

"Okay! We're meeting at the docks at 6:00 A.M. tomorrow. Kapp'n is going to take us out to sea - that's where the _big _fish are."

Isabelle nodded again, prompting another jingle from her bell hair ribbon, and the two parted ways. The secretary practically skipped back to Town Hall. It wasn't until she was back at her desk that she remembered she didn't own a fishing rod...

She walked over to the Town Hall storage closet, where the town's spare tools were kept. She reminisced about the day the mayor moved in, how she taught him how to fish and sold him his first fishing rod. Oh, how the mayor had grown since then... The secretary reached over to grab a fishing rod, but realized that doing so would be stealing from the town. She'd pay the 500 bells she was supposed to pay, but she didn't have any money on her, due to her brother not trusting her with money. They did have money in their ABD account, however...

Figuring that she'd make back the 500 bells through buying the fishing rod and going fishing before Digby noticed he was missing 500 bells, Isabelle set off for the post office to make a withdrawal.

* * *

"Boooored..." Digby sighed as he stood at his post in front of the Happy Home Showcase. Nobody ever came to view the houses, and his spot offered practically no protection from the heavy snow that was falling. The mayor popped in every once in a while, but only ever for a few seconds to accept the gifts his visitors offered to him. He let out another bored sigh.

"Digby!" a young voice called. "Diiiigby!"

The brown dog looked for the source of the voice - it was Mabel of the Able sisters. The young hedgehog hugged herself tightly, her apron providing little warmth against the winter cold.

"I'm here!" Digby called out. "What do you need?"

"Sable told me to tell you that your sister's outfit is ready for pickup!"

Digby had placed an order for Isabelle's cardigan after it got destroyed in their little laundry fire explosion incident. Having nothing better to do, he decided to pick it up and store it at home now instead of waiting for his shift to end.

"I'll be right there - I just need to withdraw some money from the bank," Digby said, making his way to the Post Office. Mabel nodded and scurried back to the warmth of the tailor shop.

* * *

Isabelle tiptoed past the train tracks leading to Main Street, intending to sneak past her brother so he wouldn't get suspicious about her entering the post office. To her surprise, however, she saw the entrance to the Happy Home Showcase unguarded. Did he escort someone to see the homes, or is he taking a break? Isabelle couldn't help but wonder - her brother very rarely had to leave that spot. In any case, the path to the Post Office seemed clear, so she skipped on in. Unfortunately, as soon as she opened the door, she saw a familiar brown dog in front of the ABD machine.

"Huh? Isabelle? What're you doing here, sis?" Digby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"O-Oh, um..." Isabelle quickly wracked her brain for an excuse. "J-Just here to mail a quick letter, that's all!" she said nervously.

"Oh. Well, see you after work!" Digby said, going back to the machine.

"Heh..." Isabelle walked up to Pelly.

"Good morning, Miss Secretary! You said something about mailing a letter?" the mail pelican asked cheerily.

"Heeeey Pelly!" Isabelle greeted, as casually as she could. "So...how was your day?"

"Erm, same as always, I guess..."

"Cool, cool."

"..."

"..." An intense, awkward silence hung over the two. The only sound that could be heard in the room was the beeping of the ABD machine.

"Look, I have a lot of work to do, so unless you're here to mail something..." the mail pelican warned, intending to get her sister.

"W-Wait!" Isabelle panicked - she needed to think of something, _anything _that Pelly would want to talk about. A light bulb suddenly flashed above Isabelle's head. "So, how's Pete?"

"P-Pete? Oh, Pete... You know, yesterday, I caught him staring at me all lovey-dovey and stuff! But then, I heard a disgusted grunt behind me, and realized he was actually staring at my sister..."

"Oooh, do go on!" Isabelle said, stealing glances at the ABD machine and not paying much attention to Pelly's story.

"Do you think I'll ever get him to notice me?" Pelly asked, looking a little sad. Suddenly, the doorbell rang - Digby has left the building.

"Hahaha! That's such a great joke!" Isabelle said, thinking Pelly had just told her a joke.

"A j-joke?" Pelly felt tears forming in her eyes. "Ehehe...ahaha, yeah, I guess it was foolish of me to think Pete would ever fall for a dumb, childish girl like me... Um, excuse me for a moment..." She ran into the break room. The sound of sobbing could be heard coming from inside there. Isabelle, unaware of what she had done, skipped over to the now vacant ABD machine.

"Please enter your password."

"Let's see...what was the password to our bank account again?" Isabelle thought for a moment. She had three tries - after that, their account would be locked for the day. She typed in "HHA".

"Incorrect. You have two attempt(s) remaining."

Next, she tried "1220", their birthday.

"Incorrect. You have one attempt(s) remaining."

"Darn." Isabelle thought hard - if she failed again, she'd have to find another way to get 500 bells. Suddenly, she remembered the password: "Dogs"! She entered it, but...

"Incorrect. You have used up all your attempts for the day. Your account is locked until tomorrow. Goodbye."

"What?! How?" Isabelle knew the password was "Dogs". She checked what she entered, then slapped her forehead. She entered an "e" instead of an "s"...

* * *

"Hey, Sable. Is my sister's cardigan ready?" Digby asked.

"It's on the table," Sable said, not taking her eyes off her sewing machine.

"Great! So, 5,000 bells, right?"

"Right."

Digby reached for the money he had just withdrawn, but noticed something wrong.

"Shoot, I must've entered 500 instead of 5,000. I'll be right back..." Digby said, heading back out into the cold.

* * *

"Arghhh, what am I gonna do now?" Isabelle said. She'd just have to find some other way to make 500 bells... Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching the post office door. She looked out the window and saw... "Digby?!"

"Sis? What're you still doing here?"

"N-Nothing! I was just...on my way out!" Isabelle shoved her way past Digby and ran back to the village, leaving her brother confused.

"O...kay." He continued to the ABD machine.

"Sorry, but you have incorrectly entered your password three times today. Your account has been locked for 24 hours..." the machine read when Digby inserted his card.

"What?" Digby had just withdrew money five minutes ago. What could've happened in the meantime? "Hey, Pelly, I think the machine's broken!" he called out. But the front desk was empty... Then, to his horror, instead of the cute, peppy Pelly emerging from the break room, a furious looking Phyllis greeted him instead.

"You!" she yelled, pointing an accusatory feather at the brown dog.

"Ph-Phyllis?" Digby gulped. When Phyllis gets angry, you don't want to be nearby... "U-Um, is something wrong?" he asked, slowly making his way to the door, but Phyllis blocked his way.

"Your _**fool **_sister made _my _sister cry!"

"I'm, um, sorry?"

"Grrr..."

"Gulp..."

* * *

With the fishing trip taking place at six in the morning, and being locked out of her ABD account for 24 hours, Isabelle would have to find some other way to come up with 500 bells for the fishing rod.

"But how...?" she asked herself out loud. She happened upon Fauna seemingly talking to herself in the snow. Curious, Isabelle walked up to her to see what was going on. As she got closer, however, she realized that Fauna had actually been talking to Fang, the cranky wolf. His gray fur made it hard to spot him amid the similarly colored snow.

"GAHAHA!" Fang laughed as Fauna sighed. Isabelle drew the conclusion that Fang had just played a joke on the poor deer.

"Oh, hello, Isabelle!" Fauna greeted.

"Hey guys!" Isabelle said. "Um, do either of you know a way to make 500 bells from scratch?"

"That's easy: just shake a bunch of trees!" Fang said.

"Trees?"

"Yep, trees," Fang nodded. "Every once in a while, some bells fall out. Just go up to a tree, grab it firmly, then...SHAKE!" Fang demonstrated the motions.

"Well, all right then! Guess I'll go find some trees..." Isabelle said, wandering off.

"But don't beehives sometimes fall out of trees?" Fauna asked Fang.

"Oops, guess I forgot to mention that," Fang said, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"...Shouldn't we tell her?"

"No, don't - it'll be hilarious! GAHAHA!" With that, the white wolf disappeared into the snow.

"Wait, Fang! FANG, you come back and tell her this instant!" Fauna called out angrily. "Fine, then I'll just tell her." The deer scanned the area around her, looking for Isabelle, but the secretary was long gone. "Forget it, I'm going home..." she sighed.

* * *

"Ugh, nothing again..." Isabelle groaned. She had shaken practically all of the trees on the upper half of town. She leaned against the trunk of the tree she just shook and sighed. Suddenly, she felt something crawling on her shoulder - a spider. "EEK!" she squealed, slapping it off and scurrying away from the tree. Something tripped her as she ran, sending her face first into the snow.

"GAHAHA!" a deep voice laughed. Isabelle looked around, but saw nothing.

"Um, hello? Anyone there?"

Silence.

"Hehe...must be hearing things again..." Isabelle said nervously. She crossed the bridge to the lower half of town to shake more trees. Every once in a while, the crunching sound of snow being walked on could be heard behind her. But every time she turned around, she saw nothing. After a few minutes of this, she finally found more trees to shake. She grabbed one firmly, just like Fang showed her, and shook...

"Bzzzzz..." an angry buzzing sound permeated the air. To her horror, Isabelle realized that her shaking caused a beehive to fall out of the tree. Angry bees streamed out of the fallen hive, scanning the area for the person that evicted them from their spot. They soon locked onto Isabelle...

"U-Um, nice bees..." The secretary took a few steps back. With a furious buzzing noise, the bees charged at her, stingers brandished and revenge in mind.

"WAAAAAAH!" Isabelle shrieked, running away as quickly as she could. She barely took five steps before tripping again! This time, however, she landed on something - or rather, some_one_. "F-Fang?!"

"Ow ow ow! Get off of me!" the cranky wolf said.

"Fang, were you following me this whole time?"

"Ye- uh, maybe. What's it to you?"

Angry buzzing could be heard getting closer, reminding the two that there was a swarm of ticked-off bees looking for something to sting. The bees, blinded by anger, did not distinguish between Fang and Isabelle - stinging either would be good enough for them. Fang realized this and pushed Isabelle back, hoping to get a head start.

"Hey!" Isabelle screamed, landing on her butt as Fang scurried away scared.

"Every man for himself!" he yelled, running away.

Isabelle leapt to her feet and started running as well, cursing the wolf for his uncooperative attitude.

Soon, youth overtook age: young, energetic Isabelle breezed by the old, tired Fang. To make matters worse, the wolf tripped and fell down. He looked back in horror as the angry swarm of bees swiftly buzzed towards him, hungry for revenge. Isabelle looked back at the poor wolf. Her first thought was that he deserved it for tricking her. He even pushed her down to use her as bait! But then, she remembered that, mean as he is, Fang was still a resident of the town. And, as secretary, is was her job to protect the residents. So, taking a deep breath, Isabelle skidded to a stop, turned around, and charged towards the swarm of bees.

"Isabelle, what are you doing?!" Fang exclaimed as he saw her run past.

"To protect and serve the residents of _New Leaf..._ that is the burden I took upon myself when I signed up to be the secretary!" she declared, standing between Fang and the bees with her arms spread wide.

"No it's not - that's _Booker's _job!"

"B...Booker?" Isabelle peeped.

"Yeah. You know, the police officer? It's _his _job to 'protect and serve' us. _Your _job is to assist the mayor."

"O-Oh..." Isabelle gulped as the bees surrounded her. They hovered around her for a second, as if asking her if she had any last words. "Ehehe...n-nice b-beeeees..." the death-row dog squeaked as the bees descended upon her. "EEEEEEEEK!"

* * *

Isabelle awoke a few hours later to the sound of _K.K. Calypso _playing. She looked around and realized she was in Fang's house. Fang himself was napping in a chair near the bed she was lying on. On the nightstand, she saw a used medicine package. Her moving around the bed stirred Fang.

"Oh, you're awake," the white wolf yawned. "Good, now get out of my house!" he barked.

Isabelle quickly hopped off the bed and scurried for the door.

"Wait." Fang stopped her. "...Thanks. You know, for saving me back there."

"N-No problem!" the secretary peeped. She turned for the door, but Fang wasn't finished talking.

"You still need 500 bells, right?"

Isabelle nodded.

"Here's some _real _advice - go back to that tree, pick up the beehive, and sell it to Re-Tail. That should give you 500 bells exact. And, it's a great way to stick it to those bees for stinging you. GAHAHA!"

Isabelle nodded nervously again. She reached for the door a third time, but Fang still had more to say.

"One more thing - don't tell _anyone _about what happened today, got it?"

"G-Got it!" she said, quickly opening the door and leaving the crazy wolf to himself.

* * *

Back at the tree, the beehive was nowhere to be found. In its place, however...

"_Whoa_!" Isabelle cooed. Near where the beehive used to be was a golden fishing rod! Isabelle picked it up - it was lightweight, yet strong; flexible, yet sturdy. It was the ultimate fishing tool. Isabelle looked around for the owner, but saw no one. She decided to "borrow" it for the fishing trip tomorrow, and then give it to the lost and found. Giddy at her fishing rod dilemma being solved, the yellow dog skipped home.

* * *

Digby rubbed his right cheek, which was still red and sore from Phyllis's slap, as he trudged home. The woman had quite the arm...

Upon opening the front door to his house, the brown dog was greeted by a blinding light emanating from inside.

"What the..." he muttered as he shielded his eyes and tried to get a look at what was producing that vibrant shine. After his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a shiny, golden fishing rod sitting in the middle of the room.

"Oh! Welcome home, bro!" Isabelle greeted cheerily. She noticed him gawking at her new fishing rod and grinned. "Cool pole, huh?"

But Digby had something else in mind. "How much did it cost?" he asked, acknowledging their current financial situation. His question made Isabelle grin harder.

"I found it!" she said proudly.

Digby was tempted to tell her to turn it in to the lost and found immediately. An item as valuable as this would definitely be noticed by the person who had lost it, which could cause problems later. But the brown dog was exhausted from the long day he had. He decided to just let the problem work itself out.

"Whatever. Good night," he said, heading off to his room for bed.

"G'night, bro! And good night, fishing rod!" she said, giving her rod a good night kiss before heading off to her own room to sleep.

_**Summary for December 22, 2014  
**__**Debt paid: 0 bells  
**__**Debt paid (overall): 0 bells  
Debt remaining: 13,398,200 bells  
Days elapsed: 2  
**_

* * *

"A beehive, eh? Were you chopping down trees for a public works project again?" Reese asked.

"Nah, I was just wandering around and saw it laying on the ground. And Isabelle's always on me about how there's too much junk on the ground..." the mayor explained.

"I see. Well, I can pay you 500 bells for it, if that's okay with you?"

"Sure thing." The two made the exchange, with Reese taking the beehive and the mayor receiving 500 bells in return.

After selling a few more things in his inventory (mostly random gifts from the villagers that he had no use for), the mayor departed.

"Thank you, come again!" Reese said as he walked out the door.

The mayor walked back to where he found the beehive.

"Now, where did I leave my fishing rod?" he wondered aloud. He dropped it to make room for the beehive, but it was nowhere to be found...

* * *

**A/N: Ahh! Sorry, I've been super busy lately. And it'll be that way until August...**


End file.
